Pablo Gonzalez De Santos - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Pablo Gonzalez De Santos
Robotics Transforming the Future, 2018
The objective of this research was to explore the feasibility of detecting cucumber fruits in fie... more The objective of this research was to explore the feasibility of detecting cucumber fruits in field conditions for autonomous robotic harvesting applications. A high resolution colour camera and a time-of-flight camera are proposed as primary sensors for the design of the sensory system. The preliminary detection algorithm includes a pixel-based classifier that labels areas of interest that belong to cucumber fruits and a registration procedure that combines the results of the aforementioned classifier with the range data provided by the time-of-flight camera. The detection algorithm is extremely simple and efficient, and provides a satisfactory discrimination of the cucumbers fruits with respect to the rest of the elements of the scene. Several experimental tests have been carried out in outdoor conditions in order to evaluate and demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed approach.
Attitude Control Methods for Walking Machines
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>In this paper four different methods ... more <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>In this paper four different methods for body attitude control are evaluated for their effectiveness. One of them uses all axes to level the body. The other three utilize only the vertical axes. The difference among these methods is the amount of geometric information used to calculate the intended motion and resultant differences in the motion of the machine when applying these methods. Simulations and experiments on the AMBLER walking machine were used to evaluate these differences. The all-axes attitude control method considers complete geometry thereby avoiding foot slippage, but this is at the cost of higher energy expenditure to servo three motions per leg.</jats:p>
The authors discuss the importance of the TECHNOFUSIÓN facility from the standpoint of Remote Han... more The authors discuss the importance of the TECHNOFUSIÓN facility from the standpoint of Remote Handling and its special features with regard to the other laboratories. This arises to the interest of developing a long-term integrated approach, which covers research, training, exploitation and dissemination of results. Standardization activity is also closely related to long-term strategy. It is shown the actual situation of standardization in Remote Handling for the nuclear industry and the evolution that is currently taking place in this field.
Analyzing Energy-Efficient Kinematic Configurations in Hexapod Robots
Field Robotics, 2011
ABSTRACT
¿ Es posible realizar tratamientos herbicidas mediante una flota de robots?
A Multi-Modal and Collaborative Human-Machine Interface for a Walking Robot
Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, 2002
Walking locomotion has been proved as an adequate technique for autonomous motion on an uneven te... more Walking locomotion has been proved as an adequate technique for autonomous motion on an uneven terrain. However, natural scenarios can be extremely complex and human intervention is regularly required. In such a case, a dialogue system known as human–machine interface (HMI) is essential for interrelation between human and machine. The objective of this paper is to present a human–machine interface
Measuring the 3D-position of a walking vehicle using ultrasonic and electromagnetic waves
Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 1999
The knowledge of the true position of a walking machine (rover) in an inertial reference frame is... more The knowledge of the true position of a walking machine (rover) in an inertial reference frame is a problem of paramount importance for realistic application of mobile robots. The points of the robot follow three-dimensional trajectories even on even terrain. When no position feedback is possible, a good knowledge of the dynamical behaviour of the rover is needed to get
The RHEA Project: using a robot fleet for a highly effective crop protection
Quadrupedal Locomotion, 2006
Quadrupedal locomotion : an introduction to the control of four-legged robots 1.Mobile robots 2.R... more Quadrupedal locomotion : an introduction to the control of four-legged robots 1.Mobile robots 2.Robots-Control systems 3.Robots
An industrial walking machine for naval construction
Proceedings of International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Legged locomotion has been extensively investigated in the last two decades, during which time ma... more Legged locomotion has been extensively investigated in the last two decades, during which time many walking machines have been built as test-beds for research purposes. Legged locomotion technology now seems to be ready to take on industrial applications. This paper presents a legged machine-ROWER-for a real industrial application in naval construction processes. The main task of the walking machine is
Environmental contamination and the resulting climate change are major concerns worldwide. Agricu... more Environmental contamination and the resulting climate change are major concerns worldwide. Agricultural vehicles that use fossil fuels emit significant amounts of atmospheric pollutants. Thus, this study investigates techniques to reduce fuel consumption in robotic vehicles used for agricultural tasks and therefore reduce atmospheric emissions from these automated systems. A hybrid energy system for autonomous robots devoted to weed and pest control in agriculture is modeled and evaluated, and its exhaust emissions are compared with those of an internal combustion engine-powered system. Agricultural implements require power for hydraulic pumps and fans; this energy is conventionally provided by power take-off (PTO) systems, which waste substantial amounts of energy. In this work, we examine a solution by designing and assessing a hybrid energy system that omits the alternators from the original vehicle and modifies the agricultural implements to replace the PTO power with electrical...
Toward Autonomous Mobile Robot Navigation in Early-Stage Crop Growth
Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics
Agricultural Robots - Fundamentals and Applications
Environmental contamination and the resulting climate change are major concerns worldwide. Agricu... more Environmental contamination and the resulting climate change are major concerns worldwide. Agricultural vehicles that use fossil fuels emit significant amounts of atmospheric pollutants. Thus, this study investigates techniques to reduce fuel consumption in robotic vehicles used for agricultural tasks and therefore reduce atmospheric emissions from these automated systems. A hybrid energy system for autonomous robots devoted to weed and pest control in agriculture is modeled and evaluated, and its exhaust emissions are compared with those of an internal combustion engine-powered system. Agricultural implements require power for hydraulic pumps and fans; this energy is conventionally provided by power takeoff (PTO) systems, which waste substantial amounts of energy. In this work, we examine a solution by designing and assessing a hybrid energy system that omits the alternators from the original vehicle and modifies the agricultural implements to replace the PTO power with electrical power. The hybrid energy system uses the original combustion engine of the tractor in combination with a new electrical energy system based on a hydrogen fuel cell. We analyze and compare the exhaust gases resulting from the use of (1) an internal combustion engine as the single power source and (2) the hybrid energy system. The results demonstrate that the hybrid energy system reduced emissions by up to approximately 50%.
In recent years, there have been major advances in the development of new and more powerful perce... more In recent years, there have been major advances in the development of new and more powerful perception systems for agriculture, such as computer-vision and global positioning systems. Due to these advances, the automation of agricultural tasks has received an important stimulus, especially in the area of selective weed control where high precision is essential for the proper use of resources and the implementation of more efficient treatments. Such autonomous agricultural systems incorporate and integrate perception systems for acquiring information from the environment, decision-making systems for interpreting and analyzing such information, and actuation systems that are responsible for performing the agricultural operations. These systems consist of different sensors, actuators, and computers that work synchronously in a specific architecture for the intended purpose. The main contribution of this paper is the selection, arrangement, integration, and synchronization of these systems to form a whole autonomous vehicle for agricultural applications. This type of vehicle has attracted growing interest, not only for researchers but also for manufacturers and farmers. The experimental results demonstrate the success and performance of the integrated system in guidance and weed control tasks in a maize field, indicating its utility and efficiency. The whole system is sufficiently flexible for use in other agricultural tasks with little effort and is another important contribution in the field of autonomous agricultural vehicles.
Mobile robotics in arable lands: Current state and future trends
2017 European Conference on Mobile Robots (ECMR), 2017
This paper presents a summary of the current state of mobile robotics oriented to perform precisi... more This paper presents a summary of the current state of mobile robotics oriented to perform precision agricultural tasks on arable lands. Two approaches of robot configurations are identified and some relevant examples are mentioned in addition to identifying the trend of robotics in agriculture, the current limitations, and the following steps as understood by the authors for reducing the gap for increased inclusion of robotics in everyday agricultural tasks.
Journal of Imaging, 2016
Machine vision systems are becoming increasingly common onboard agricultural vehicles (autonomous... more Machine vision systems are becoming increasingly common onboard agricultural vehicles (autonomous and non-autonomous) for different tasks. This paper provides guidelines for selecting machine-vision systems for optimum performance, considering the adverse conditions on these outdoor environments with high variability on the illumination, irregular terrain conditions or different plant growth states, among others. In this regard, three main topics have been conveniently addressed for the best selection: (a) spectral bands (visible and infrared); (b) imaging sensors and optical systems (including intrinsic parameters) and (c) geometric visual system arrangement (considering extrinsic parameters and stereovision systems). A general overview, with detailed description and technical support, is provided for each topic with illustrative examples focused on specific applications in agriculture, although they could be applied in different contexts other than agricultural. A case study is provided as a result of research in the RHEA (Robot Fleets for Highly Effective Agriculture and Forestry Management) project for effective weed control in maize fields (wide-rows crops), funded by the European Union, where the machine vision system onboard the autonomous vehicles was the most important part of the full perception system, where machine vision was the most relevant. Details and results about crop row detection, weed patches identification, autonomous vehicle guidance and obstacle detection are provided together with a review of methods and approaches on these topics.
Autonomous systems for precise spraying – Evaluation of a robotised patch sprayer
Biosystems Engineering, 2016
Advances in different technologies, such as global navigation satellite systems, geographic infor... more Advances in different technologies, such as global navigation satellite systems, geographic information systems, high-resolution vision systems, innovative sensors and embedded computing systems, are finding direct application in agriculture. These advances allow researchers and engineers to automate and robotise agricultural tasks no matter the inherent difficulties of the natural, semi-structured environment in which these tasks are performed. Following this current trend, this article aims to describe the development and assessment of a robotised patch spraty -20ying system that was devised for site-specific herbicide application in agricultural crops and is capable of working in groups or fleets of autonomous robots. The robotised patch sprayer consisted of an autonomous mobile robot based on a commercial agricultural vehicle chassis and a direct-injection spraying boom that was tailor-made to interact with the mobile robot. There were diverse sources (on-board and remote sensors) that can supply the weed data for the treatment. The main features of both the mobile robot and the sprayer are presented along with the controller that harmonised the behaviour of both main subsystems. Laboratory characterisation and field tests demonstrated that the system was reliable and accurate enough to accomplish the treatment over 99.5% of the detected weeds and treatment of the crop with no weed treated was insignificant; approximately 0.5% with respect to the total weed patches area, achieving a significant herbicide savings.
Sensors, 2015
This paper describes a supervisor system for monitoring the operation of automated agricultural v... more This paper describes a supervisor system for monitoring the operation of automated agricultural vehicles. The system analyses all of the information provided by the sensors and subsystems on the vehicles in real time and notifies the user when a failure or potentially dangerous situation is detected. In some situations, it is even able to execute a neutralising protocol to remedy the failure. The system is based on a distributed and multi-level architecture that divides the supervision into different subsystems, allowing for better management of the detection and repair of failures. The proposed supervision system was developed to perform well in several scenarios, such as spraying canopy treatments against insects and diseases and selective weed treatments, by either spraying herbicide or burning pests with a mechanical-thermal actuator. Results are presented for selective weed treatment by the spraying of herbicide. The system successfully supervised the task; it detected failures such as service disruptions, incorrect working speeds, incorrect implement states, and potential collisions. Moreover, the system was able to prevent collisions between vehicles by taking action to avoid intersecting trajectories. The results show that the proposed system is a highly useful tool for managing fleets of autonomous vehicles. In particular, it can be used to manage agricultural vehicles during treatment operations.
Sensors, 2014
In recent years, there have been major advances in the development of new and more powerful perce... more In recent years, there have been major advances in the development of new and more powerful perception systems for agriculture, such as computer-vision and global positioning systems. Due to these advances, the automation of agricultural tasks has received an important stimulus, especially in the area of selective weed control where high precision is essential for the proper use of resources and the implementation of more efficient treatments. Such autonomous agricultural systems incorporate and integrate perception systems for acquiring information from the environment, decision-making systems for interpreting and analyzing such information, and actuation systems that are responsible for performing the agricultural operations. These systems consist of different sensors, actuators, and computers that work synchronously in a specific architecture for the intended purpose. The main contribution of this paper is the selection, arrangement, integration, and synchronization of these systems to form a whole autonomous vehicle for agricultural applications. This type of vehicle has attracted growing interest, not only for researchers but also for manufacturers and farmers. The experimental results demonstrate the success and performance of the integrated system in guidance and weed control tasks in a maize field, indicating its utility and efficiency. The whole system is sufficiently flexible for use in other agricultural tasks with little effort and is another important contribution in the field of autonomous agricultural vehicles.
Robotics Transforming the Future, 2018
The objective of this research was to explore the feasibility of detecting cucumber fruits in fie... more The objective of this research was to explore the feasibility of detecting cucumber fruits in field conditions for autonomous robotic harvesting applications. A high resolution colour camera and a time-of-flight camera are proposed as primary sensors for the design of the sensory system. The preliminary detection algorithm includes a pixel-based classifier that labels areas of interest that belong to cucumber fruits and a registration procedure that combines the results of the aforementioned classifier with the range data provided by the time-of-flight camera. The detection algorithm is extremely simple and efficient, and provides a satisfactory discrimination of the cucumbers fruits with respect to the rest of the elements of the scene. Several experimental tests have been carried out in outdoor conditions in order to evaluate and demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed approach.
Attitude Control Methods for Walking Machines
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>In this paper four different methods ... more <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>In this paper four different methods for body attitude control are evaluated for their effectiveness. One of them uses all axes to level the body. The other three utilize only the vertical axes. The difference among these methods is the amount of geometric information used to calculate the intended motion and resultant differences in the motion of the machine when applying these methods. Simulations and experiments on the AMBLER walking machine were used to evaluate these differences. The all-axes attitude control method considers complete geometry thereby avoiding foot slippage, but this is at the cost of higher energy expenditure to servo three motions per leg.</jats:p>
The authors discuss the importance of the TECHNOFUSIÓN facility from the standpoint of Remote Han... more The authors discuss the importance of the TECHNOFUSIÓN facility from the standpoint of Remote Handling and its special features with regard to the other laboratories. This arises to the interest of developing a long-term integrated approach, which covers research, training, exploitation and dissemination of results. Standardization activity is also closely related to long-term strategy. It is shown the actual situation of standardization in Remote Handling for the nuclear industry and the evolution that is currently taking place in this field.
Analyzing Energy-Efficient Kinematic Configurations in Hexapod Robots
Field Robotics, 2011
ABSTRACT
¿ Es posible realizar tratamientos herbicidas mediante una flota de robots?
A Multi-Modal and Collaborative Human-Machine Interface for a Walking Robot
Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, 2002
Walking locomotion has been proved as an adequate technique for autonomous motion on an uneven te... more Walking locomotion has been proved as an adequate technique for autonomous motion on an uneven terrain. However, natural scenarios can be extremely complex and human intervention is regularly required. In such a case, a dialogue system known as human–machine interface (HMI) is essential for interrelation between human and machine. The objective of this paper is to present a human–machine interface
Measuring the 3D-position of a walking vehicle using ultrasonic and electromagnetic waves
Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 1999
The knowledge of the true position of a walking machine (rover) in an inertial reference frame is... more The knowledge of the true position of a walking machine (rover) in an inertial reference frame is a problem of paramount importance for realistic application of mobile robots. The points of the robot follow three-dimensional trajectories even on even terrain. When no position feedback is possible, a good knowledge of the dynamical behaviour of the rover is needed to get
The RHEA Project: using a robot fleet for a highly effective crop protection
Quadrupedal Locomotion, 2006
Quadrupedal locomotion : an introduction to the control of four-legged robots 1.Mobile robots 2.R... more Quadrupedal locomotion : an introduction to the control of four-legged robots 1.Mobile robots 2.Robots-Control systems 3.Robots
An industrial walking machine for naval construction
Proceedings of International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Legged locomotion has been extensively investigated in the last two decades, during which time ma... more Legged locomotion has been extensively investigated in the last two decades, during which time many walking machines have been built as test-beds for research purposes. Legged locomotion technology now seems to be ready to take on industrial applications. This paper presents a legged machine-ROWER-for a real industrial application in naval construction processes. The main task of the walking machine is
Environmental contamination and the resulting climate change are major concerns worldwide. Agricu... more Environmental contamination and the resulting climate change are major concerns worldwide. Agricultural vehicles that use fossil fuels emit significant amounts of atmospheric pollutants. Thus, this study investigates techniques to reduce fuel consumption in robotic vehicles used for agricultural tasks and therefore reduce atmospheric emissions from these automated systems. A hybrid energy system for autonomous robots devoted to weed and pest control in agriculture is modeled and evaluated, and its exhaust emissions are compared with those of an internal combustion engine-powered system. Agricultural implements require power for hydraulic pumps and fans; this energy is conventionally provided by power take-off (PTO) systems, which waste substantial amounts of energy. In this work, we examine a solution by designing and assessing a hybrid energy system that omits the alternators from the original vehicle and modifies the agricultural implements to replace the PTO power with electrical...
Toward Autonomous Mobile Robot Navigation in Early-Stage Crop Growth
Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics
Agricultural Robots - Fundamentals and Applications
Environmental contamination and the resulting climate change are major concerns worldwide. Agricu... more Environmental contamination and the resulting climate change are major concerns worldwide. Agricultural vehicles that use fossil fuels emit significant amounts of atmospheric pollutants. Thus, this study investigates techniques to reduce fuel consumption in robotic vehicles used for agricultural tasks and therefore reduce atmospheric emissions from these automated systems. A hybrid energy system for autonomous robots devoted to weed and pest control in agriculture is modeled and evaluated, and its exhaust emissions are compared with those of an internal combustion engine-powered system. Agricultural implements require power for hydraulic pumps and fans; this energy is conventionally provided by power takeoff (PTO) systems, which waste substantial amounts of energy. In this work, we examine a solution by designing and assessing a hybrid energy system that omits the alternators from the original vehicle and modifies the agricultural implements to replace the PTO power with electrical power. The hybrid energy system uses the original combustion engine of the tractor in combination with a new electrical energy system based on a hydrogen fuel cell. We analyze and compare the exhaust gases resulting from the use of (1) an internal combustion engine as the single power source and (2) the hybrid energy system. The results demonstrate that the hybrid energy system reduced emissions by up to approximately 50%.
In recent years, there have been major advances in the development of new and more powerful perce... more In recent years, there have been major advances in the development of new and more powerful perception systems for agriculture, such as computer-vision and global positioning systems. Due to these advances, the automation of agricultural tasks has received an important stimulus, especially in the area of selective weed control where high precision is essential for the proper use of resources and the implementation of more efficient treatments. Such autonomous agricultural systems incorporate and integrate perception systems for acquiring information from the environment, decision-making systems for interpreting and analyzing such information, and actuation systems that are responsible for performing the agricultural operations. These systems consist of different sensors, actuators, and computers that work synchronously in a specific architecture for the intended purpose. The main contribution of this paper is the selection, arrangement, integration, and synchronization of these systems to form a whole autonomous vehicle for agricultural applications. This type of vehicle has attracted growing interest, not only for researchers but also for manufacturers and farmers. The experimental results demonstrate the success and performance of the integrated system in guidance and weed control tasks in a maize field, indicating its utility and efficiency. The whole system is sufficiently flexible for use in other agricultural tasks with little effort and is another important contribution in the field of autonomous agricultural vehicles.
Mobile robotics in arable lands: Current state and future trends
2017 European Conference on Mobile Robots (ECMR), 2017
This paper presents a summary of the current state of mobile robotics oriented to perform precisi... more This paper presents a summary of the current state of mobile robotics oriented to perform precision agricultural tasks on arable lands. Two approaches of robot configurations are identified and some relevant examples are mentioned in addition to identifying the trend of robotics in agriculture, the current limitations, and the following steps as understood by the authors for reducing the gap for increased inclusion of robotics in everyday agricultural tasks.
Journal of Imaging, 2016
Machine vision systems are becoming increasingly common onboard agricultural vehicles (autonomous... more Machine vision systems are becoming increasingly common onboard agricultural vehicles (autonomous and non-autonomous) for different tasks. This paper provides guidelines for selecting machine-vision systems for optimum performance, considering the adverse conditions on these outdoor environments with high variability on the illumination, irregular terrain conditions or different plant growth states, among others. In this regard, three main topics have been conveniently addressed for the best selection: (a) spectral bands (visible and infrared); (b) imaging sensors and optical systems (including intrinsic parameters) and (c) geometric visual system arrangement (considering extrinsic parameters and stereovision systems). A general overview, with detailed description and technical support, is provided for each topic with illustrative examples focused on specific applications in agriculture, although they could be applied in different contexts other than agricultural. A case study is provided as a result of research in the RHEA (Robot Fleets for Highly Effective Agriculture and Forestry Management) project for effective weed control in maize fields (wide-rows crops), funded by the European Union, where the machine vision system onboard the autonomous vehicles was the most important part of the full perception system, where machine vision was the most relevant. Details and results about crop row detection, weed patches identification, autonomous vehicle guidance and obstacle detection are provided together with a review of methods and approaches on these topics.
Autonomous systems for precise spraying – Evaluation of a robotised patch sprayer
Biosystems Engineering, 2016
Advances in different technologies, such as global navigation satellite systems, geographic infor... more Advances in different technologies, such as global navigation satellite systems, geographic information systems, high-resolution vision systems, innovative sensors and embedded computing systems, are finding direct application in agriculture. These advances allow researchers and engineers to automate and robotise agricultural tasks no matter the inherent difficulties of the natural, semi-structured environment in which these tasks are performed. Following this current trend, this article aims to describe the development and assessment of a robotised patch spraty -20ying system that was devised for site-specific herbicide application in agricultural crops and is capable of working in groups or fleets of autonomous robots. The robotised patch sprayer consisted of an autonomous mobile robot based on a commercial agricultural vehicle chassis and a direct-injection spraying boom that was tailor-made to interact with the mobile robot. There were diverse sources (on-board and remote sensors) that can supply the weed data for the treatment. The main features of both the mobile robot and the sprayer are presented along with the controller that harmonised the behaviour of both main subsystems. Laboratory characterisation and field tests demonstrated that the system was reliable and accurate enough to accomplish the treatment over 99.5% of the detected weeds and treatment of the crop with no weed treated was insignificant; approximately 0.5% with respect to the total weed patches area, achieving a significant herbicide savings.
Sensors, 2015
This paper describes a supervisor system for monitoring the operation of automated agricultural v... more This paper describes a supervisor system for monitoring the operation of automated agricultural vehicles. The system analyses all of the information provided by the sensors and subsystems on the vehicles in real time and notifies the user when a failure or potentially dangerous situation is detected. In some situations, it is even able to execute a neutralising protocol to remedy the failure. The system is based on a distributed and multi-level architecture that divides the supervision into different subsystems, allowing for better management of the detection and repair of failures. The proposed supervision system was developed to perform well in several scenarios, such as spraying canopy treatments against insects and diseases and selective weed treatments, by either spraying herbicide or burning pests with a mechanical-thermal actuator. Results are presented for selective weed treatment by the spraying of herbicide. The system successfully supervised the task; it detected failures such as service disruptions, incorrect working speeds, incorrect implement states, and potential collisions. Moreover, the system was able to prevent collisions between vehicles by taking action to avoid intersecting trajectories. The results show that the proposed system is a highly useful tool for managing fleets of autonomous vehicles. In particular, it can be used to manage agricultural vehicles during treatment operations.
Sensors, 2014
In recent years, there have been major advances in the development of new and more powerful perce... more In recent years, there have been major advances in the development of new and more powerful perception systems for agriculture, such as computer-vision and global positioning systems. Due to these advances, the automation of agricultural tasks has received an important stimulus, especially in the area of selective weed control where high precision is essential for the proper use of resources and the implementation of more efficient treatments. Such autonomous agricultural systems incorporate and integrate perception systems for acquiring information from the environment, decision-making systems for interpreting and analyzing such information, and actuation systems that are responsible for performing the agricultural operations. These systems consist of different sensors, actuators, and computers that work synchronously in a specific architecture for the intended purpose. The main contribution of this paper is the selection, arrangement, integration, and synchronization of these systems to form a whole autonomous vehicle for agricultural applications. This type of vehicle has attracted growing interest, not only for researchers but also for manufacturers and farmers. The experimental results demonstrate the success and performance of the integrated system in guidance and weed control tasks in a maize field, indicating its utility and efficiency. The whole system is sufficiently flexible for use in other agricultural tasks with little effort and is another important contribution in the field of autonomous agricultural vehicles.